Violence
broke out during the first major street protest against Emmanuel Macron's
presidency today as the head of state was accused of trying to turn 'France
into Britain'.

A
so-called 'Black Tuesday' saw militant trade unions leading demonstrations
against British and American-style liberal reforms aimed at reducing
unemployment.

They
have infuriated agitators, some of whom today fought running battles with riot
police close to Bastille square, in Paris, using Molotov cocktails.

Radical leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon got straight to the
point. President Macron’s reforms are unacceptable, he said, because they would
turn France into Britain. The horror of it all:

Former
presidential candidate and leading Left wing MP Jean-Luc Melenchon joined a
protest in Marseille, on the Mediterranean coast, and said Mr Macron would be
'forced to give ground'.

Mr
Melenchon added: 'This country doesn't want to be part of the liberal world,
France isn't Britain.'

Personally, I like the part about the liberal world. From
being the moniker of all serious American leftists "liberal" has returned to its
roots as British free market and free trade policy… a bit closer to
libertarianism than to progressivism.

Consider the horrors that await France if it became more
like Great Britain. For one, its unemployment rate would be halved:

Earlier,
Mr Macron had lashed out at the 'lazy, cynical and extremists' who opposed his
plans to overhaul the country's complicated labour laws.

The
39-year-old sees a revamp as being essential to cut down on a jobless rate of
9.5 per cent – almost twice Britain's.

Mr
Macron wants to make it easier to hire and fire, and to cut down on trade union
collective bargaining in favour of local discussions between bosses and
employees.

Of course, the same drama has taken place in the streets of
France for years now. Successive presidents have tried and failed to make
France more like Britain. Time will tell whether the young and clumsy Macron
can succeed.